Depression and Sports

    

A topic that I would like to discuss in this post is about athletes and depression. Lots of athletes deal with depression on so many levels because of various reasons. Those reasons can range to various topics but two that are common are post-career depression and injury. Both of these topics include the conclusion of an athlete’s career. For the most part, most of these athletes do not realize that they cannot play their game for the rest of their lives. Some of them prepare well for that conclusion, most of them do not. As for injuries, it is uncontrollable and can be mentally draining.

            The affect of an injury could be long-term or short-term. There has been the recent news and media coverage of the concussion issues in the NFL. Majority of them are long-term which has become a major concern for athletes and their families. Linked to CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy), the repeated traumatic hits taken during the game have caused many issues with current and former athletes. In some cases leading to suicide or changes in attitude leading to anger. Some injuries are short-term injuries that may be career altering. These injuries lead to the depression of athletes and sometimes take their minds completely out of focus within their respective sports. Injuries are inevitable but I believe there should be better opportunity for athletes to cope with these injuries.

            Besides injuries, there is the post-career depression. I know about this personally because it was something I dealt with personally to an extent. I was a fairly decent High School football player and collegiate player. Injuries lead to a position change in High School, which would eventually change my love for the game. I was not having fun anymore and decided to end my playing career after one year of college football. Upset and depressed that I would no longer be playing, I did not know where I was heading in life or what career path I would choose. I then realized that my calling was to still be involved in Sports just not as an athlete. There are plenty of other athletes that I know personally who have dealt with similar instances. It can be a really troubling experience for some.